sublime

CEFRB2

/səˈblaɪm/

adjective · verb

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

01
adjective
Extremely beautiful, impressive, or excellent.
02
adjective
Extra detail
To raise (someone or an intangible thing) to a state of (especially moral or spiritual) excellence; to exalt.

Examples

Even in death it is sublime listening to Bach!
His death was a sublime self-sacrifice.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses: 5
Parts of speech: 2
Citations: 5
Synonyms: 3

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

Synonym of sublimate.
To heat (a substance) in a container so as to convert it into a gas which then condenses in solid form on cooler parts of the container; (generally) to change (a solid substance) into a gas without breaking down or passing through the liquid state by heating it gently.
To obtain or purify (a substance) in this manner.

More examples

In context

It was sublime scenery.
a sublime deed
sublime scenery

Quick test

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Question 1 · Quick check

The stunning view from the mountain was blank and filled us with awe.

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Nearby

Citations

The word in print, with each source given in full.

Sub[tle]. […] VVho are you? Ana[nias]. A faithfull Brother, if it pleaſe you. Sub. VVhat's that? A Lullianiſt? a Ripley? Filius artis? Can you ſublime, and dulcefie?
1610 (first performance), Ben[jamin] Jonson, The Alchemist, London: […] Thomas Snodham, for Walter Burre, and are to be sold by Iohn Stepneth, […], published 1612, →OCLC, Act II,...
The aſhes either of Pit-Coal, or Sea-Coal, make no Efferveſcence vvith Alkalies or Acids. VVhence the ſaline Principle is altogether volatile, and ſublimed avvay by the fire.
1677, Nehemiah Grew, “[Several Lectures Read before the Royal Society.] Experiments in Consort of the Luctation Arising from the Affusion of Several Menstruums upon All Sorts of B...
Then diſtil it, and you ſhall have a Philoſophical ☿ [mercury], and what Sublimeth is the Sulphur, which keep apart.
1883, J[ohn] U[ri] Lloyd, “Elixirs”, in Elixirs: Their History, Formulæ, and Methods of Preparation […] (Pharmaceutical Preparations), 2nd edition, Cincinnati, Oh.: Robert Clarke & Company, →OCLC, page 9
We had entered the clouds. For half-an-hour we were muffled in a cold, damp mist, and total darkness, and had begun to think of going indoors when, all at once, the car burst into the pure and starlit region of the upper air. A cry of joyous admiration escaped from us all. The spectacle before us was indeed sublime.
1897, John Munro, chapter VI, in A Trip to Venus
Know how sublime a thing it is, To suffer and be strong.
1838 October, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, “The Light of Stars”, in Voices of the Night, Cambridge, Mass.: […] John Owen, published 1839, →OCLC, page 13

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Origin

adjective

PIE word *upó Partly from the following: * From Middle English sublimen, sublime, sublyme (“to exalt, extol, glorify, honour; (alchemy) to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; to obtain (a substance) by cooling vapour obtained through sublimation; to extract (a pure substance) from a mixture by sublimation; to sublimate (a substance)”), from Middle French sublimer, Old French sublimer (“to exalt, glorify, honour; to refine (a substance) by vaporizing in a closed container; of a substance: to undergo sublimation”) (modern French sublimer), and from its etymon Latin sublīmāre, the present active infinitive of sublimō (“to elevate, raise; to soar”) (compare Late Latin subl...